ADVERTISEMENT

Golf PGSF FedEx Cup Week 17 The Zurich Classic of New Orleans

NoleinATL

Ultimate Seminole Insider
Gold Member
Oct 29, 2006
26,306
9,253
1,853
shane-rory-belt-trophy.jpg


The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is the lone team event on the PGA TOUR schedule and once again features plenty of the game’s best playing in a unique format.
This is the eighth year the Zurich Classic has been played as a team event. Each duo starts the week playing Four-ball (best ball) before switching to Foursomes (alternate shot) for the second round. Saturday’s third round will once again be Four-ball before returning to Foursomes for the final round.
Up and down the field you’ll find Ryder Cup heroes, Presidents Cup pairs, countrymen, fan favorites and even two sets of twin brothers. Given the format and the teams, it’s set to be a special week.

With the RBC Heritage now in the rear-view mirror, it’s also a valuable time to earn key FedExCup points as we inch closer to the Truist Championship, as golfers are jockeying for position in the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5 to earn a spot in the field in Philadelphia.
Here’s everything else you need to know as the TOUR returns to New Orleans.
FIELD NOTES: Fresh off his Masters victory – a major triumph that completed the career grand slam – Rory McIlroy will once again team up with friend-of-20-years Shane Lowry to defend their title in New Orleans. Last year marked McIlroy’s debut at the event, with the thought to play together stemming from a … celebratory … lunch between the two Ryder Cup teammates. McIlroy has won three times already this season on the PGA TOUR while Lowry has had a steady 2025 campaign with six top 25s in nine starts, including a runner up to McIlroy at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. … Collin Morikawa is the other top-10 ranked golfer in the field in New Orleans and will be teaming up with Kurt Kitayama after the duo finished T23 a year ago. Morikawa has three top-10 finishes so far this season while Kitayama has never missed the cut in New Orleans. … There are three sets of brothers teeing it up, including two sets of twins: Yannik and Jeremy Paul along with Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard. Alex and Matt Fitzpatrick (who finished T11 last year) is the other sibling duo, … There are always plenty of fun pairings this week in New Orleans including countrymen (Canada’s Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin, France’s Matthieu Pavon/Victor Perez, South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen/Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune/Takumi Kanaya), neighbors (J.T. Poston/Keith Mitchell, Greyson Sigg/Kevin Kisner, Camilo Villegas/Luke Donald), same-college alums (Adam Schenk/Tyler Duncan, Quade Cummins/Chris Gotterup, Zac Blair/Patrick Fishburn), or just long-time pals (Joel Dahmen/Harry Higgs, Nick Hardy/Davis Riley – who won in 2023, Mark Hubbard/Ryan Brehm). … Garrick Higgo and Ryan Fox will be paired together as Higgo looks to continue his momentum from his return to the PGA TOUR winner’s circle last week at the Corales Puntacana Championship. … After his playoff loss to Justin Thomas at the RBC Heritage, Andrew Novak is right back in action alongside Ben Griffin. Novak finished T23 in 2024.
SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The next Signature Event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the Truist Championship. … The top 10 FedExCup points earners through the THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson will earn spots in the Truist Championship via the Aon Next 10. Maverick McNealy leads the Aon Next 10 list after Sunday at the RBC Heritage with Novak, who fell in a playoff to Justin Thomas at Harbour Town, sitting No. 4. … The top five FedExCup points earners in the Corales Puntacana Championship, Zurich Classic of New Orleans and THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson will earn spots in the Truist Championship via the Aon Swing 5. With his win in Punta Cana, Higgo sits atop the Aon Swing 5 after one event. … There was a five-way tie for second at the Puntacana Resort with Alejandro Tosti, Keith Mitchell, Jeremy Paul, Joel Dahmen and former PGA TOUR University No. 1 Michael Thorbjornsen all earning 95 points towards the Aon Swing 5 standings.
COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: With his win at the Signature Event RBC Heritage, Justin Thomas jumps back inside the TOUR TOP 10 standings from No. 11 all the way up to No. 2. Thomas’ victory at Hilton Head was his fifth top 10 of the season, matching Corey Conners for the lead on TOUR so far in 2025. … McNealy also jumped into the TOUR TOP 10, from No. 14 to No. 8 after finishing T3 at the RBC Heritage. … Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley both moved up one spot in the standings from No. 4 to No. 3 and No. 5 to No. 4, respectively. … Sepp Straka, Ludvig Åberg, Morikawa and J.J. Spaun round out the rest of the TOUR TOP 10. … With his T3 at Harbour Town, Brian Harman made a tidy leap from No. 22 to No. 12 and is just 70 points outside the TOUR TOP 10.
FEDEXCUP: Winners receives 400 FedExCup points.
COURSE: TPC Louisiana, par 72, 7,425 yards. Water hazards are featured prominently on the course, but the Pete Dye design (which featured Steve Elkington/Kelly Gibson as consultants) is one of the TOUR’s most scoreable layouts. It stretches over 250 acres of wetlands, features 100 bunkers and is located just 15 minutes from bustling downtown New Orleans.
72-HOLE RECORD: 258, Nick Hardy/Davis Riley (2023)
ALTERNATE SHOT RECORD: 63, Hadwin/Taylor (Round 4, 2023), Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele (Round 2, 2023), Chad Ramey/Martin Trainer (Round 4, 2024)
BEST BALL RECORD: 59, Cantlay/Schauffele (Round 1, 2022).
LAST TIME: Long-time pals and Ryder Cup teammates McIlroy and Lowry defeated Ramey and Trainer in a playoff to top the field in New Orleans last year. It was McIlroy’s tournament debut. Ramey and Trainer shot a tournament-record tying 63 in the Foursomes format in the final round to zip 25 spots up the leaderboard after making five birdies in a row after making the turn. They went 2-under for their final three holes to finish at 25-under 263 and then waited as McIlroy and Lowry went birdie-bogey-birdie to end up tied. Trainer pushed a 6-foot par attempt on the first playoff hole to the right, and the team of McIlroy/Lowry, who had known each other for about 20 years, was the winner. It was McIlroy’s 25th PGA TOUR title and Lowry’s third. The team of Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard nearly made it into the playoff as well, with Brehm’s birdie try on the 72nd hole hanging on the right-side lip. Patrick Fishburn and Zac Blair were tied for the lead heading to the 71st hole but made double bogey to end up in a four-way tie for fourth.

How to follow (all times ET):​

Television:
  • Thursday-Friday: 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
  • Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
PGA TOUR LIVE:
--ThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
Stream 1Main feed: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.Main feed: 8:45 a.m.-6 p.m.Main feed: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.Main feed: 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m
Stream 2Marquee group: 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.Marquee group: 8:45 a.m.-6 p.m.Marquee group: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.Marquee group: 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Stream 3Featured groups: 8:15 a.m.-6 p.m.Featured groups: 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.Featured groups: 9:45 a.m.-6 p.m.Featured groups: 11:15 a.m.-6 p.m.
Stream 4Featured holes: 8 a.m.-6 p.m.Featured holes: 9:15 a.m.-6 p.m.Featured holes: 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.Featured holes: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+
  • Main feed: Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the course.
  • Marquee group: New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group.
  • Featured groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups.
  • Featured holes: Combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes.
PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATOUR.com/liveaudio:
  • Thursday-Friday: noon-6 p.m.
  • Saturday-Sunday: 1-6 p.m.

Congratulations again to last week's winner @FSUdawg , 2nd win in a row


We have changes at the top of the leaderboard.

With another strong finish, @DFSNOLE has taken the overall lead with @FSUdawg moving into the top 3 after two strong weeks

Leader-Thru-rbc-25.jpg


Good Luck to everyone this week
 
Last edited:
Good afternoon Mr Commissioner and all hail King Ed! Please accept these picks which will prove my new position in the standings is a fluke and King Ed the Merciful is demonstrating his kindness towards his subjects.

McIlroy/Lowry
Rai/Theegala
Morikawa/Kitayama
Poston/Mitchell

Thank you sir and good luck.
 
Ah...pairs, doubles, twosomes. So now their are eight choices. 4 times the fun? Or 64 lashes with a sand rake? (Don't ask about my math, I'm just running against the win...) I'll take these golfers for 72 holes, Alex:

Hoffman/Watney
Ghim/Chan Kim
Echavarria/Greyserman
Detry/MacIntyre

Good luck on the Bayou this week.

When I was just a little boy,
Standing at my Daddy's knee
My Papa said son don't let the man get you
And do what he's done to me...
 
Ah...pairs, doubles, twosomes. So now their are eight choices. 4 times the fun? Or 64 lashes with a sand rake? (Don't ask about my math, I'm just running against the win...) I'll take these golfers for 72 holes, Alex:

Hoffman/Watney
Ghim/Chan Kim
Echavarria/Greyserman
Detry/MacIntyre

Good luck on the Bayou this week.

When I was just a little boy,
Standing at my Daddy's knee
My Papa said son don't let the man get you
And do what he's done to me...
'Cos he'll get you boy
Get you right now now now.

Noler, do you remember the Fourth of July?

God, how I loved that band.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NoleinATL
Man, I SSSOOOOOOOOOOOO hate these partner tournaments. It's hard enough settling on 4 players, much less 8.

And then, when I woke up from nap, having already made my picks, I realized I'd had a dream in which Max McGreevy was lapping the field.
Surely, this is just a symptom of my misspent youth coming back to haunt me? Surely?

Anyhoo:

Nico Echavarria/Max Grayserman
Mark Hubbard/Ryan Brehm
Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry
J.T. Poston/Keith Mitchell

Damnit, that seemed too much like work. I'm supposed to be retired.
 
Love this week, when I get to put the hex on EIGHT guys instead of four.

Detry/MacIntyre
Novak/Griffin
Kitayama/Morikawa
Ghim/Kim
 
  • Like
Reactions: NoleLizards
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT